So off to another wedding fayre we went..

On a very wet and rainy Sunday we packed up our car and went off to the Selex sport centre in Basildon to a wedding fayre organised by the fab Sarah from Star weddings and craft fairs.

I had managed to convince Mr S that this would be a fun day so had enlisted his help with carrying the heavy stuff ;)

We had a great day meeting all the suppliers and brides to be. First of which was a lovely lady called Amy Jade's who was opposite us and was attending her 1st wedding as a supplier. I was obviously drawn in by her beautiful floral display with a teapot in the middle, at which point I did warn her I might steal it because it looked so delightful! I also loved the cake in a teacup which is a novel take on how to serve dessert to your guests.

Speaking of desserts, I had the pleasure of finally meeting Adam from Parry's ice cream bikes. I absolutely love his vintage inspired ice cream bikes which proves an unusually twist on desserts for your guests and as well as a fun attraction for the day!

Ruby's vintage tea party was lucky enough to have our china displayed on a table mock up, courtesy of Katie from Golden Whisk who offer bespoke catering services for all events. It was lovely to see our china displayed with cake as it should be! Made us hungry just looking at it :)

To top off the party sprit, there was entertainment provided by the beautiful Amy Langmead rocking that stunning purple dress and Joe Fryd who left Mr S and I swaying along.

Ruby's off next to Seabrights barn in Chelmsford on the 13th of May so come and see our china on display

Ruby x

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Let the wedding season begin- a wedding at Dove Barn Suffolk

Mr S and I had the honour of being invited to wedding of Jess and Luke at Dove Barn on Friday 20th April.

For those of you who have been following the blog remember I had the chance to be abit sneaky and visit this beautiful venue when I did a wedding fayre with my china earlier in the year. This was also where all my stunning photography (supplied by Kliq media) on the website was shot.

The big day started at St James's church in Colchester and we all lived in hope that the weather would hold out for the couple, which it did right until the photographer wanted to take pictures outside the church, damn those April showers. Everyone then rushed back in to the church for the photographs to be taken! 

As you may of read I wrote a piece on what to wear as a guest to a wedding so I will let my loyal readers judge my outfit for the big day! Guess which 1 is me!

With the ceremony over we move on to Dove Barn www.dovebarn.com, Mr S and I were greeted to a champagne reception. The main dining was hidden from view so I took the opportunity to check out the table plan as I always like to know where I am going! I came across this little beauty! Each table was named after a letter of the venue and tied in beautifully

We were then welcomed in to the dining area which was decorated in stunning sage green and cream chiffon draped from the beams. 

The table were about to become my favourite part of the wedding as they have used scrabble pieces for the place settings and for the table names, which I thought was an amazingly unique idea and became a really talking. In fact it began the game of who could score the highest scrabble points with their name which I won! (the smallest victories- 19 points! :)

The floral centrepieces were stunning and allowed the guests to easily talk around them, us girls always love a good gossip and we don't want to have a look around the centrepiece to do it! 
These centrepieces tied in beautifully with the sage and cream colour scheme

By this time I was thinking of my belly and we were treated to a yummy wedding breakfast supplied by Chimney catering. It was a stunning presentation of tomato and pesto tartlet, pan fried chicken and my favourite CHEESECAKE!

Then we were treated a selection of touching, clever and humour speeches from the Bride's father, Best man and the groom. The best man managed to find a fabulous balance between ribbing the groom and some brilliant jokes which kept the room highly entertained. This has got Mr S worried about the standard of his speech now!


I then got down to the important job of partying the night away!

Congrats to Jess and Luke, wishing you all the best in your married life together


Ruby
x

Weekend treat - diamonds are a girls best friend and something shine for the boys

Weekend all, as I am writing this I am sitting waiting to pick my wedding bands for me and my husband to be.
 The search for our wedding bands started way back in February. Me and Mr S had a week off together so we decided to get ourselves organised with the honeymoon and our wedding bands. So off we went 1 cold february day wenwent to Hatton Garden in London.

 For those of you who are not familiar with Hatton Garden, it is known as the diamond distract of London where you will find a cluster of independent jewellers, none of your Ernst jones around here! Being a lady from Essex we are known for loving our sparklies and this is the place to be for sparkles! Hatton Garden is the place to also find many recently engaged couples. Also there is a great choice of rings so if you are looking for vintage, new or bespoke you will find it here.

This isn't my 1st experience of Hatton Garden, backtrack about a year and a half ago I was down here picking my own engagement ring with my mother, just beginning to start the wedding planning. Now fast forward to today I am 2 months away from the wedding Just finishing off the final finishing touches to my big day. Those newly engaged couple don't know what has hit them yet when they have to start planning their wedding.

 Hatton Garden can be unnerving as in most of the establishments there are no prices anywhere, I found this a little scary when I went to pick my engagement ring but I was more prepared when I came to picking our wedding bands. I am women who loves at bargain but it is important to go with a budget in mind so have a chat between you before you set off as it is very easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all. However don't despair if you think you can't afford much because the trick with Hatton Garden is to haggle.

For those of you who have holidayed in Turkey, this is a skill you will already possess! Also don't be dishearten if you don't get the right price with the 1st retailer because you have plenty of choice and you will find someone who will be able to help you with your budget.

 My favourite area in Hatton Garden is called "the heart of Hatton Garden". It is towards the end of Hatton Garden and has smaller retailers under 1 roof. I always think you will find the best value here as these smaller retailers often make the jewellery themselves so therefore can bring down the cost by cutting out the middle man, all good for helping you with your wedding budget!

 Mr S and I found an amazing little retailer MNM Ceylon gems and jewellery who were so professional and put us at ease. We got some amazing rings which have been made up for me and Mr S. Two words of advice don't expect to walk out with your ring that day as they are handcrafted, expect to wait 4-5 weeks and two you can sometimes get a better deal if you can afford to pay in cash so get saving those pennies!

 Obviously I would love to show the new sparkles but they are being saved and hidden for the big day
 Ruby X

Mid week delight -Let your guests leave you a twinkly memory of your special day

If you are like me and are always looking for unique ways to make your wedding stand out from the rest, you will love this little discovery 

The Crystal wishing tree provides a unique take on the traditional guest book which allows your guest to write their wishes for your and your new husband's future and hang them on this stunning creation. I love this as it provides a beautiful focal point in your reception venue.

www.visionballons.co.uk

I love the set up in the above photo as it sits beautifully with the vintage styling from the day and we all know I am sucker for all things vintage inspired.

This Crystal wishing tree is supplied by the fab Sharon from Vision Event Styling and come with all the necessary bits and bobs for your guests to create a stunning tree full of wishes. 

Ruby
x

Cakeabella - the journey for the perfect cake

So if you have been a regular follower of my blog, you will know had a slight disater with my cake with my cake maker falling ill. So off I went on my travels this weekend to meet the lovely Anne from Cakeabella.

I had an amazing time discussing my ideas for my art deco cake and how we could incorporate ideas from my invites which my lovely friend Miss Adair had created for me in to the cake. the cake is going to look amazing tied in with the place settings and table numbers.

Anne made me feel completely at ease when discussing my ideas and when I kept changing my mind about certain details and now I feel that we have the beginning of an epic art deco creation. 


We also had a great time discussing our china discoveries which some beautiful teaspoons and tea plates coming out of Anne's cupboard.

Anne sent me and my mother in law to be off with some amazing cupcakes which as you can see are absolutely amazing and my husband to be quickly consumed the teddy bear one once he came back from his best friends stag do.

I also took the opportunity to display them on one of my beautiful cake plates (if I do say so myself)as always believe cake should be eaten from a proper cake plate ;)

Cakeabella can be contacted at www.cakeabella.com where you can find further beautiful examples of her work for all occasions. I personally love the cake recipe section of the site where you can find all types of recipes from carrot cake to salted carmel chocolate cake Yummy!

Ruby

x

Cherish those memories for a lifetime- how to pick the wedding photographer that's right for you

Choosing wedding suppliers can be some what of a challenge but when it comes to picking your wedding photographer who is going to spend the best part of your day with you, where do you start?! I started to ponder this question and consulted my photographer friends at the Essex wedding chat page and from my Twitter (@RubysTeaParty), who have supplied some amazing tips and photographs to help you on your way to finding an fabulous photographer who will meet your needs on your wedding day.

Racheal Pereira from Racheal Pereira Photographer recommends using word of mouth to find your photographer but always to check out their work before you book as one person preference in photography style might be your worst nightmare. I personally preferred the older style wedding albums and I wanted to find someone who was going to be able to cater for this as I had a dislike for the laser print storybooks which I know many couples are favouring as it bring down the cost of the album (all a matter of personally choice)

www.rachaelpereira.com

www.rachaelpereira.com

When I started to look for a wedding photographer, I wanted someone who wasn't going to make us stand around for hours whilst we missed all the fun of our day and I am sure many other brides would feel the same.

Rachael also recommended an engagement shoot as it is a great way to make sure you work well with your photographer before the big day. 

Tracy Williams from Tracy Williams Photography Studio also recommended a engagement shoot as it allows to you discuss any concerns the bride and groom have about being photographed before the mayhem of the big day. Tracy commented that "So many of my B&G's tell me they do not like having their picture taken and it’s my job to put them at ease and for them to enjoy it so they love the final images", just proves that you are not the only bride and grooms out there who worry about looking their best for the best day!

www.twsp.co.uk Tracy Williams

www.twsp.co.uk Tracy Williams

If you are impatient like me as a bride to be you will want to share those special moments with the people you love as soon as possible after the big day so it is essential you find a photographer who will offer this service. Photographers such as Faith Stone are moving with the times and offering the ability to uploads several images to social network sites such as Facebook. 

www.faithstonephotography.co.uk

To stop those post wedding blues and relive some of the amazing moments of your day, some photographers such as Faith Stone have the ability to proof your wedding album online which means you and your new husband can pick out the images for your album in the comfort of your home.

www.faithstonephotography.co.uk

I have received some amazing tips from the featured photographers too many to feature in one blog post so I will adding another post in the near future with further tips on picking the right person to take amazing photographs of your big day

Ruby

x

What to wear as guest for the wedding of the year!

I have decided that 2012 is the year of the wedding alongside my own I have a further three I have been invited to, which got me thinking about this weeks blog about what to wear if you are invited to a wedding.

Those who know me well I work for a well known British retailer as my day job and that I live and breathe clothes as well as the world of ecommerce so I thought that I would use my knowledge to guide you through the world of wedding fashion.

Obviously there are the well known guidelines that we all know for how to dress on the day; not to wear white, ivory or black and the most important not to outshine the bride. However we all want to look our best for those picture perfect moments.

Department stores have really made this area their own and have started to create wedding botiques within their web sites to tap in to this market with House of Fraser http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Wedding+Boutique+Home+Page/WeddingBoutiquePage,default,pg.html and John Lewis http://www.johnlewis.com/ recently launching their wedding areas to complete the perfect look. These offer a great starting point for those who are not shop-savvy.


For those of you have something in mind, I personally love Shopstyle http://www.shopstyle.com/. Shopstyle is a fashion version of google where you can type in what you are looking for and it shows you the product and what store get the item from.

Me and the high street are currently love the mid-length for its lady-like elegance.  

http://www.topshop.com/

For those of you who like to invest in trends that are going to last past SS12, we are currently seeing a strong art deco trend comign through with it carrying through in to AW12 so if you select wisely your outfit could see you through the christmas party season.I absolutely love this little number from French Connection called Pearl Queen with its stunning geometric designs.

www.frenchconnection.com

We have also seen the return of the stunning floral and vintage prints for SS12 which I love. Whilst shopping on saturday trying to find an outfit for my multiple weddings,I stumbled across this beautiful dress from oasis which is also a steal at £65

www.oasis-stores.com

Whilst on the theme of vintage style there has also seen an increase in 1950s styling pulling through on the high street. I found some beautiful examples of this styling @ Free People clothing who sell vintage and new.
This was my favourite example from the site and I was hoping my hunt was over but this dress is tiny!

http://www.freepeople.com/

Well thats all for this week

Ruby x http://www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk/